In a candid interview published today in the Argentine magazine La Nación, president Barack Obama acknowledged the U.S. must answer for the scourge of drug trafficking in Latin America.
"The problem suggests a shared responsibility," said the president. "We're working with our friends throughout the continent to improve security for their citizens."
Obama said that "International criminal organizations, many of which thrive on drug dealing, have destroyed lives and entire communities in the region. These networks promote corruption, undermine democratic government and weaken efforts at economic development. The United States accepts responsibility for the violence occasioned by drug trafficking," added the president.
In one of his few direct admissions on the issue, Obama acknowledged that "the demand for drugs, including in the United States, has brought about this crisis. We're focused on reducing drug usage, by a new strategy emphasizing education. We're also implementing unprecedented actions to reduce the flow of arms and cash from the United States (to Latin American nations)."
In a markedly different reference to drug-related issues, the president said that "We're never going to put these gangs in jail until we confront the underlying social and economic pressures which feed criminal activity." He said that high risk youth must be the focus of local community support, "before they can say yes" to a life of drugs and crime. Obama was a community organizer and activist in crime-ridden Chicago neighborhoods before he entered politics.
Obama said that the U.S. needs to improve its "juvenile justice system, and invest in drug and crime prevention programs. We're also working together with countries (in Latin America) to strengthen their courts and judicial structures, as well as those institutions which protect the rule of law and human rights."
The president did not refer directly to Wide Receiver or Fast and Furious, the now abandoned U.S. arms sale programs which secretly transferred military assault weapons to Mexican drug cartels, some of them after Obama took office in 2009. Both operations are the subject of pending congressional investigations in the House and Senate.
La Nación interviewed the president by written questions which he recently answered. The questions were apparently submitted before last week's revelation by the New York Times that federal DEA agents routinely launder hundreds of millions of dollars in drug profits for Mexico's cartels (http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/us-agents-help-mexican-drug-cartels.html). Mexico said Saturday that it was unaware of the U.S. money laundering operation (http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/mexico-says-it-had-no-knowledge-of-dea.html).
Note: President Obama's answers were of course translated into Spanish by La Nación. I have translated them back into English without seeing the original text of Obama's replies.
Update Feb. 18, 2012: The White House has asked Congress to approve $10 billion in fiscal 2013 programs designed to reduce drug consumption in the United States: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/obama-asks-congress-for-another-234.html#more.
Mérida summit tells U.S. to reduce drug usage, check weapons flow: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/merida-summit-to-us-stop-flow-of.html.
United States is 9% stoned, say two U.S. senators: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/09/united-states-is-9-stoned-say-two-us.html.
Mexico's Continuing Agony: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/mexicos-continuing-agony.html
Honduras "invaded by drug traffickers": http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/honduras-invaded-by-drug-traffickers.html.
"Almost bankrupt" Guatemala calls for U.S. help: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/almost-bankrupt-guatemala-calls-upon-us.html.
Guatemalan army joins drug war: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/guatemalan-army-joins-drug-war-we-have.html.
U.S. Peace Corps flees Honduras: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/peace-corps-exits-honduras-in-face-of.html.
Mitt Romney talks tough on U.S. drug usage: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/mitt-romney-talks-tough-on-us-drug.html.
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